Pembroke native launches therapy website

Pembroke native Bill Belanger recently announced the recent launch of Healbright, a new company whose mission to bring the benefits of therapy to everyone.

The company operates from both Massachusetts and Colorado and offers its program to people anywhere in the United States. The startup was founded by a group of psychotherapists who were eager to help clients but were dissatisfied with the current mental health care system. Healbright.com offers online courses led by psychologists, doctors and other mental health experts. Each course provides practical tools and skills one might typically learn in therapy. The eight-person firm has four team members in the Greater Boston area.

“As therapists, we saw psychotherapy and psychology have tremendously positive effects on our clients,” said Belanger, president of Healbright. “Unfortunately, an outdated stigma about therapy, a fixation on mental illness and extremely expensive psychotherapy sessions prevent many people from taking advantage of the tools in our field. With this in mind, we created a platform that allows the best therapists to empower people to improve their lives in a simple, affordable way."

The new website represents the culmination of more than a year’s work to create and develop the online courses. The online courses are all led by licensed mental health professionals and cover a wide range of topics that someone may see a therapist for, including relationship improvement, parenting, sexuality, grief and loss, reducing anxiety and increasing happiness. The courses are a blend of video lectures, experiential exercises and guided practices such as meditation.

Belanger, a graduate of the University of Vermont, was trained as a psychotherapist. He has concentrated on areas of addiction treatment, positive psychology and developmental psychology. He has also studied Buddhist psychology and has studied in Nepal, Thailand, Bhutan and the United States.

"Healbright courses use psychoeducation, a heavily researched tool that is frequently used in psychotherapy," said Jamarie Geller, Healbright's clinical director. "Psychoeducation is when a therapist teaches a client about something they want to work on and gives them guidance and scientifically validated tools that have worked for others. This therapy tool has been proven to be highly effective in a number of studies, and it is also simple, affordable and empowering for clients."

Healbright courses are $59 and can be taken at the user’s pace or over the course of 12 weeks. Healbright also offers a subscription to their entire course catalogue for $99 per year. Students are given unlimited access to the courses they purchase so they can continue to review the videos.